“Our nation owes a great debt to the brave men and women who serve in the United States Armed Forces,” said Anderson. “This bill doesn’t begin to extend the ‘thank you’ these incredible people deserve, but perhaps it can make the transition back to civilian life just a little easier.”

As is tradition in the Senate when a member presents their first bill, colleagues gave the Senator a bit of a hard time, asking a variety of questions as he presented his legislation. One Senator asked Anderson to name all conflicts America has been involved with, beginning with the Revolutionary War.

Another, asked if presenting his first bill was making the freshman Senator nervous. Anderson, a firefighter and paramedic, definitively responded, “There’s nothing on this floor that could make me nervous, Senator, I run into burning buildings for a living.”

Anderson’s bill passed in the Senate on April 15with unanimous, bipartisan support. It now heads to the House of Representatives for consideration in that chamber.